LIMA, Peru (AP) — A former minister, a comedian and a political dynasty heiress are among the 35 candidates hoping to become Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years.

Sunday’s election is taking place during a surge in violent crime and corruption, fueling widespread discontent among voters, who largely view candidates as dishonest and unprepared for the presidency. Many of the candidates have responded to the crime concerns with wide-ranging proposals, including building megaprisons, restricting food for prisoners and reinstating the death penalty for serious crimes.

“You can’t trust anyone anymore, nothing’s going to change,” construction worker Juan Gómez, 53, said as he carried two heavy bags with potatoes and rice to feed his five children. “(Criminals) come on motorcycles, put a gun to your head… you look around and there’s no police officer.

“What are you going to do? You just let them rob you.”

Here’s what to know about the latest presidential contest.

Who is voting?

Voting is mandatory for Peruvians from the ages of 18 to 70. More than 27 million people are registered, and of those, about 1.2 million are expected to cast ballots from abroad, mainly in the United States and Argentina.

A candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win outright. However, a runoff in June is virtually assured given the deeply divided electorate and the pool of candidates, the largest in the Andean country’s history.

What are the issues?

A major preoccupation is surging crime, which has led to frequent protests. Homicides have doubled and cases of extortion have increased fivefold this decade, according to official data.

“You get on the bus, and you have to sit far from the driver; you don’t know if you’ll make it home alive,” retiree Raúl Zevallos, 63, said. “Criminals drive by on motorcycles, shoot, kill the driver, and you could die, too.”

More than 200 public transportation drivers were killed in Peru in 2025. The same year, a national survey carried out by the state’s National Institute of Statistics and Informatics found that 84% of respondents in urban areas feared becoming victims of a crime in the following 12 months.

Who are the candidates?

Thirty-five names are on the ballot, including Keiko Fujimori, a conservative former congresswoman and daughter of the late President Alberto Fujimori. This marks her fourth attempt to become president.

Keiko Fujimori has promised to crack down on crime with an iron fist, but she has also defended laws that experts say make it difficult to prosecute criminals. The laws, which her party backed in recent years, eliminated preliminary detention in certain cases and raised the threshold for seizing criminal assets.

If elected, she has said judges presiding over criminal cases will be anonymous and prisoners will have to work to earn their food.

Also running is Rafael López Aliaga, the conservative former mayor of Peru’s capital, Lima. He has proposed building prisons in the country’s Amazon region, allowing judges to conceal their identities and expelling foreigners who are living illegally in Peru.

Meanwhile, comedian-turned-politician Carlos Álvarez has tried to garner support by promising to convene the leaders of El Salvador, Denmark and Singapore to tap their expertise in security.

New Senate

Peruvians are also choosing a bicameral Congress for the first time in more than 30 years, following recent reforms of the legislature that will concentrate a great deal of power in the new upper chamber. The president won’t be able to dissolve the new Senate, though the chamber will be able to remove a president from power.

Under the new bicameral structure, impeaching the president will be easier, with the Senate only needing 40 of the 60 senators to approve it. Previously, 87 of 130 lawmakers in the unicameral chamber had to vote in favor of removal, and they frequently exercised that power, contributing to the country’s revolving door of presidents in the last decade.

The bicameral system is returning even though 80% of voters rejected it in a 2018 referendum. Lawmakers amended the Constitution in 2024 to make it possible.

Alejandro Boyco, a researcher at the Institute of Peruvian Studies, said the Senate will appoint and sanction high-ranking officials, including the country’s ombudsman, constitutional court members and some central bank directors. Senators will also review and amend bills from the lower chamber.

“They’ve concentrated too much power in a 60-people chamber,” Boyco said. “They are not going to be immune to being corrupt.”

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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Michael Carrick has made a huge impact at Old Trafford since his appointment as Man Utd interim head coach.

Michael Carrick said it was important for Manchester United’s players to be pulling in the same direction when asked about the squad’s support for him to land the job on a permanent basis.

Carrick has won seven Premier League games, drawing twice and losing once, since his appointment as interim head coach in January. The Reds are third in the table, meaning they are well-placed to secure Champions League football.

United travelled to the Republic of Ireland for a four-day training camp last week. Amad and Bryan Mbeumo spoke at a press conference at Carton House, and they backed Carrick to stay beyond this season.

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Amad said of Carrick: “He’s been very great, he’s been doing so much for the team, he has a lot of experience, and he knows the club, so we think he’s the right man, but we are really happy for what he’s doing right now.”

Mbeumo added: “We’ve got good experience with him, I like playing under him as well.”

When asked about whether the backing from the players mattered to him, Carrick responded: “I think the most important thing for me about all that is that we’re all pulling in the same direction.

“Whatever’s said is going to be said, but I think the feeling, the willingness to do things together and to be positive, to be in a good place where we’re positive and hopefully winning games, for me, that’s the biggest thing really. After that, things will get solved in one way or another.

“I think it’s nice for the boys to feel so positive and be in a good frame of mind that they’re enjoying the football. Obviously, we want that to continue as much as possible.”

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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.

Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.

Carrick was optimistic heading into the interim role that he could make the strong impact he’s had so far. “Certainly coming in with particularly the first two games, in the situation, I was pretty optimistic and pretty positive and always thinking what we can do,” he said.

“We obviously know in the back of your mind what it can look like and what direction it can go in, but it was literally just being positive and attacking the next game, going and winning it and then seeing where we could go.

“We’re still at the same stage. Just because we’ve maybe got a bit of a points difference to certain teams below us, there’s a points difference to certain teams ahead of us as well, so it depends how you look at it.

“But we’re certainly not looking at it backwards to say how it’s been or how great it’s been or whatever like that. It’s all about what’s next really and finishing season strong.

“As much as we’re looking at trying to qualify for the Champions League and what’s behind us, we’re definitely still looking at how many points we can achieve moving forward as well for the teams ahead of us.”

United have seven games remaining to secure their spot in the Champions League. “Strong word that,” said Carrick when asked whether it would be a failure not to qualify for the competition.

“We take where we are. We know as a club we want to be challenging right at the top. There’s no getting away from that. But I think there’s steps in being realistic as well and talking about where we came in and where we are now and just keep building on that.

“I think the boys are in a good place, the squad is in a good place and we keep pushing forward. The club seems to be in a really good place in terms of the supporters, really positive and enjoying it, which is important, and we just try and keep pushing and keep progressing as we go.”

When pressed on whether he would accept finishing sixth, Carrick said: “I didn’t say that. No, I wouldn’t accept it. But it’s not so much accepting it, it’s about trying to finish as high as you possibly can. We’ll see how we get on.”

To win last year, McIlroy needed to beat Justin Rose – who finished tied third on Sunday having led by two at the turn – in a sudden death play-off after bogeying the 72nd hole.

And he did not make it much easier for himself this time around. Having scorched the field to take a record six-shot lead after 36 holes, he stuttered to a one-over 73 on Saturday.

Tied with Young going into Sunday, Northern Ireland’s McIlroy heaped pressure on himself with a sloppy double-bogey five on the fourth after three-putting from eight feet.

He dropped another shot at the par-three sixth, but after mixing four birdies with seven pars to build a two-shot lead over world number one Scheffler heading to the last, he said his “greatest stress” on Sunday was not knowing where his ball ended up on the 18th after flailing his drive right and in among the trees.

“It could go anywhere. It could be anywhere,” added the world number two, who also drew level with Americans Phil Mickelson and Lee Trevino on six majors.

“There were a few others. I thought my second putt on 11 was huge to avoid making bogey there.”

Despite falling behind Young and Rose, and with Scheffler creeping up the leaderboard, McIlroy insisted he never felt as though his chance had slipped away.

“If I hadn’t birdied the seventh and eighth holes, I would have started to push a little bit,” added the 36-year-old, who became just the sixth wire-to-wire Masters winner.

“But I think the birdies on seven and eight, Justin bogeying 11 and 12, and then me birdieing 12, I never felt like I was out of it. I never felt like I had to press at all.”

Rory McIlroy is already targeting more majors after becoming only the fourth man to win back-to-back Masters titles.

The Northern Irishman’s one-shot victory over world number one Scottie Scheffler took his career tally to six.

But having waited a decade between his fourth and fifth, which secured the career grand slam a year ago, the desire for more still drives the 36-year-old.

“It took me 10 years to win my fifth major, and then my sixth one’s come pretty soon after it,” he said.

“I’m not putting a number on it but I certainly don’t want to stop here.”

While this victory was not as emotional as a year ago, when he broke down in tears on the final green, it was no less special for McIlroy as he had his parents Rosie and Gerry here after they missed out 12 months ago.

For that reason, it had even more personal resonance.

“I caught myself on the golf course a couple of times thinking about them and I was like ‘No, not yet, not yet’,” he said.

“It’s really cool to have them here. They missed it last year and the first thing I wanted to do was fly home to see them because I obviously wouldn’t be sitting up here if it wasn’t for them.

“I had to sort of convince them to come this year because they thought the reason I won last year was because they weren’t here.

“When the ball trickled by and I marked it there from two inches or whatever (at the last) I just looked at the back of the green because I saw my mum and dad and Erica (his wife) and Poppy (his daughter) and I was just like ‘I can’t believe I’ve just done it again’.

“Not as emotional, but just, wow, it’s amazing. I can’t believe I did it again.”

“I said on the putting green that I’m glad we proved that wrong, so they can keep coming as long as they want. It’s amazing to have them here. I’m excited to celebrate with them tonight.”

McIlroy looked a certainty to win with a six-shot lead on Friday night but starting the day level with Cameron Young on 11 under having squandered that advantage there were more than a few moments when a victory looked in doubt.

There was a stage when he was two behind but he finally kicked into gear with back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth and when then-leader Justin Rose, who lost to him in a play-off a year ago, played Amen Corner in two over par, McIlroy seized the initiative with birdies as the 12th and 13th to move into the outright lead again.

Even with a two-stroke advantage he served up some drama on the 18th tee by carving his drive into the Georgia pines, where had already spent a lot of time this week.

“I’d say walking off the 18th tee not knowing where my ball was the moment of greatest stress (as) it could be anywhere,” he added.

“I don’t make it easy. I used to make it easy back in my early 20s when I was winning these things by eight shots.

“It’s hard to win golf tournaments, especially around here.

“You’ve had maybe a couple of runaway winners over the years but it always seems to be a very tight finish at this golf course.

“I thought it was so difficult to win last year because of trying to win the Masters and the grand slam, and then this year I realised it’s just really difficult to win the Masters.

“Just absolutely delighted to be able to get it done. Having a six-shot lead going into the weekend it would have been a bitter pill to swallow if I wasn’t able to get myself over the finish line.”

But why were chocolate bars invented and made in York since 1935 as Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp getting a security convoy in the first place?

It turns out KitKat in Canada took a fresh perspective on shipping and delivery after a well-publicised cargo theft of the company stock in Europe.

As reported by The Press, it follows a reported heist last month of hundreds of thousands of KitKats on their way from a Nestlé production facility in Italy, destined for distribution in Poland.

The cargo, weighing 12 tonnes, disappeared en route and is believed to have been stolen with the company adding in a statement at the time that “the vehicle and its load are still nowhere to be found”.

The brand also told French news agency AFP that the theft may have led to a shortage of KitKats appearing on the shelf and consumers may have “struggled to find their favourite chocolates ahead of Easter.”

In a video from KitKat Canada which featured on The Independent TV website yesterday (April 9), a red KitKat truck is seen leaving a Nestlé warehouse under convoy whilst negotiating Toronto’s city centre and highways.

KitKat in the UK confirmed this was a marketing activity, with a spokesperson saying: “When moments like the reported KitKat heist start to gain traction, they quickly move beyond news and become a shared cultural reference point.

“What KitKat does particularly well is recognise when those moments evolve into a kind of universal language that audiences are already engaging with and then find a way to participate natively rather than imposed.”

A Coleraine man is on a mission to raise awareness for a very rare brain disease which has left his mother bedbound.

Ethan Downey’s 51-year-old mum, Joanne, was diagnosed with Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), a rare and progressive neurodegenerative disorder.

Speaking about the condition, Ethan said the diagnosis has been a huge shock for the family. He explained that symptoms first began to appear in 2022, including cognitive issues and slurred speech.

While the condition initially appeared to stabilise, her health declined after she was referred to a neurologist in December 2024. Ethan is now spreading awareness about the condition and raising money for the PSP Association as he takes on the Belfast City Marathon on May 3. The 20-year-old has been training hard and launched a campaign on GoFundMe.

Ethan said, “It has been a shock to everyone. Since 2022, my mum Joanne has been showing symptoms of it, cognitive issues and some slurred speech. It appeared stagnant for a few years, but in December 2024, she was referred to a neurologist, and now it has culminated in her being bedbound.

“It has been difficult for the family seeing this progress so quickly. Even the doctors aren’t fully aware of the stages of what is happening, it can be a bit confusing sometimes to know where we are with it. Our faith in Jesus has helped us tremendously during these difficult times.

“The whole goal behind running the marathon is to raise money and awareness for CBD. It is a degenerative disease where the brain shuts down, and it is a very rare condition, especially in the UK. I am looking to help in any way I can, and to help raise money for research. Hopefully, it will help other people who are diagnosed in the future.

“I’ve always played football growing up, so it has kept me football fit, but alongside that, I’ve done maybe some five km. Since about November I have been increasing the distance, using different apps and creating running programmes.“I have been progressing in my distances and I have enjoyed it so far. The fact I am doing it for my mum has helped me get through it. The longer runs are starting to come in now. This will be my first full marathon. I’ve done a few half-marathon distances before, but this will be something different.“I am raising money for the PSP Association, they support people with the condition and help better their lives. They also help with research. They also raise awareness on something that tends to go under the radar and sometimes gets misdiagnosed.”

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RHS experts shared their advice to encourage wildflowers and support pollinators in your garden

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A lawn bursting with flowers isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but plenty of gardeners love nothing more than a green space packed with blooms, or dedicate a specific patch to wildflowers to draw in vital pollinators. Yet there’s one common error that could be stopping flowers from taking hold in your grass.

Lawn specialists at the RHS have recommended steering clear of overmowing during spring if you’re keen to encourage wildflowers to flourish. They even suggest holding off until summer before resuming any regular mowing schedule. The experts explained: “With a conventional lawn, mow once a fortnight or once a week, depending on growth.

“For a flower-rich lawn or wildflower meadow, leave uncut in spring to provide much-needed support to pollinators and a welcome break from mowing.”

While you might be tempted to get the mower out a couple of times in April, the specialists advise giving it a complete rest in May, referring to it as “no mow May”.

As the title implies, this simply means putting the mower away for the entire month, allowing any wild plants already established in your garden to grow freely and burst into flower. You can choose to leave your whole lawn untouched, or simply set aside a dedicated section for wildflowers.

Come June, you can resume fortnightly mowing, or hold off even longer should you prefer.

No Mow May was launched in 2019 by UK-based conservation charity Plantlife, to help tackle the devastating loss of flower-rich meadows — 97% of which have disappeared since the 1930s.

Urging gardeners to leave their lawnmowers in the shed this May, Plantlife campaigners say: “No Mow May is one of the easiest ways to help the environment – letting wildflowers like daisies, dandelions and clovers grow while supporting bees and butterflies. (even small wild patches add up to make a huge difference to nature.)”

March was a busy month for officers in the north of the city who carried out searches in over 20 properties

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The PSNI have issued a warning to drug dealers after a proactive month saw officers hit 23 addresses in North Belfast, in targeted efforts against organised crime.

Officers said addresses were searched in the Newlodge, Shankill, Ardoyne, Ballysillan, Antrim Road and Cliftonville areas as part of ongoing efforts to tackle drug dealing across North Belfast.

The force released several images from one of the policing operations carried out in March.

A police spokesperson said, “If you are involved in drug dealing within our communities, be aware that we will take action.

“We remain committed to identifying, disrupting, and arresting those involved in criminal activity.

“If you have concerns about drug-related activity, please contact us on 101, report online here, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

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